So far, Harlow's #watermelondress was on both Inside Edition and Kelly and Ryan Live. Mazzy was like, "Wait! What about MY watermelon dress???" She's right. The pink fringe cap sleeve is an excellent addition. Still think #babymeloning is the better hashtag!

Everybody is smiling and looking at camera! I just posted my latest travel vlog which follows our three day road trip in Central New York! It rained a lot but we still had tons of fun. Don't miss Harlow dancing like a robot and Mazzy talking "duck." I think this is my favorite travel video so far. YouTube link in bio!

She's getting her hair cut today. I was going to leave work and meet her and our sitter there but I'm too swamped. It's the first time she's getting a cut without me. Fingers crossed they don't chop it all off or give her faux hawk!

If you don't already know, "a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios with milk" has replaced Harlow's waffle obsession. She asks for it every single morning, in those words exactly. If I were to say, "Harlow, do you want a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios?" She would say, "Yes, WITH MILK." Also, ever since Harlow and I made that video about how to make cereal (link in bio- FYI, the longer YouTube version is even better than the one I put on Insta), Harlow has been really into making her own breakfast in the morning. Her and Mazzy have even taken our cereal orders at night and then pre-set the table with our names written on the napkins. Then they instruct us to stay in bed until everything is ready. It's actually some of the few times we've been able to sit down to breakfast all together as a family at the dining room table. Thanks @cheerios for helping make the mornings easier this summer! #generalmillscereal #sponsored

I loved them so much, I won’t even make you wait until the bottom of this post to find out the winners. The runner-ups are Rebecca T, Cara M, and Carinn H and the grand prize winner is Alyssa P!!! Congratulations to all. Please contact allie@mommyshorts.com to claim your prizes.

The winners were picked at random (no extra points for creativity) but I still wanted to show off my favorite shots. Most people I know who have not purchased my book yet have said, “But when would I find time to read it???” Yes, I know. You can no longer read a book out on the couch like normal people who don’t have little hellions running around trying to distract you. But here are a few stellar ideas…

1) You could read it in the bathroom. DUH.

2) You could read it in the bath.

3) You could read it while you are taking your glucose test at the ob/gyn.

4) You could read it while trapped under your napping baby.

5) You could read it while your kid fixes his own lunch.

6) You could sit your kids down for dinner and read it at a separate table.

7) You read it after you drop the kids off at school.

8) You could read it after the kids go to bed.

9) You could read it when your kids finally go to bed after coming in and out of their room to complain they can’t sleep for the past two hours.

10) You could read it at the gym.

11) You could read it as your excuse not to go to the gym.

12) You could read it when you should be doing the dishes.

13) You could read it instead of cleaning up the toys.

14) You could read it instead of tackling the laundry.

15) You could read it while you should be working.

16) You could read it in between contractions.

17) You could create a book club just so you and your friends could all read it together.

18) You could read it while thanking your lucky stars that you are flying solo.

19) You could read it during an episode of Doc McStuffins.

20) You could put on a second show and read some more.

21) You could lock your kid in a dog crate and finish the whole goddamn book.

22) You could read it while your kids recreate scenes from page 136.

23) You could read it while you get a much-needed pedicure.

24) You could ready it while your husband keeps asking you, “What’s so funny????”

25) You could run away from your family to read it in a faraway cabin.

26) You could read it on your trip to Norway.

27) You can read it so you don’t have to watch your kid mutilate a perfectly good sandwich.

28) You could read it after rescuing your kid’s most prized possession.

29) You can read it with your remarkably average mug.

30) You can read it with your remarkably above average mom.

31) You can read it with your unborn baby, without realizing this is probably your last chance to read anything but “Goodnight Moon” in a very long time.

What should you do with the book when you are done with it?

You can give it to your kids to read. (And hope they bypass the inappropriate parts.)

You can use it to hold your baby down.

You can use it to cover your baby’s face.

You could hand it to your kid so you could partake in some remarkably average baby mugging.

And there you have it! Congrats to the winners and thanks to everyone for participating. FYI, I’ve been updating the “kids in the book” post when new people post pictures, so thanks for continuing to send them in!

One response to “31 Places a Parent Can Sneak in Some Quick Reading”

I was going to take a photo of my three-year-old son looking at the “kids badly hiding” page with the comment that he didn’t think that any of them were bad hiding spaces. But then he wouldn’t sit still!

We’re on vacation! Not only are we starting off with excellent weather, we got a good shot taken by Mike on the very first night! Thanks, Daddy Shorts. 🙌🏻 First full day in paradise is on my story! #mommyshortsinmexico

There’s a new sculpture in Astor Place that broke my heart. It is called The Last Three. It’s 17 feet tall and represents the last three northern white rhinos on earth. Their names are Sudan, Nijan, and Fatu. Sudan is the last male. He is 45, which is the life expectancy for a rhino. His daughter is Nijan and his granddaughter is Fatu. Rhino horns are worth a ton of money so they are in constant threat of poachers. This public piece of art was created by artists Gillie and Marc with the hope of educating and inspiring others to care about the plight of the rhinos. It worked on me. Their aim is to collect 1 million goodbye messages on www.goodbyerhinos.org and put them towards a petition for approaching governments about eliminating the demand for rhino horns. Please like, comment and tag your friends to get this seen by as many people as possible and feel free to regram and share! 😥 #goodbyerhinos

New York is still freezing so instead of doing our usual ski trip in March, we decided to switch things up and go somewhere much warmer. Not sure when I’ll post on my feed, but you can follow along on my Instagram stories...🌴☀️🥝👙🦎⛱⛵️✈️🍹🤸‍♂️😎 #comingsoon

Sometimes I look at my Instagram account and think— man, this feed really needs some adults. Who is running this thing??? And because I know everyone is going to ask where @littlemissparty got her dress, I already asked. It’s vintage. She bought it when she was 19. Sucks for the rest of us! I got my shirt at Aritzia. Thanks for asking 🤣 Have you guys watched our Instagram lives together? I like doing it so much better with a friend! We are on a two week break because our schedules are all crazy but will do it again after that. What would you guys want us to talk about? Any questions for two NYC working moms???

Harlow has a very important message for everyone. Brought to you by Super Why, I think. Also, this impromptu performance was 100% because Harlow noticed me upping my intake of fruits and vegetables this week. 🍎🍌🥕💪🏻 #harlowunplugged #eathealthy